#1746: Beware the Neophyte Knuckle Scraper

Nov 18, 2017
This week on The Best of Car Talk, Paul’s Jetta lost some of its Fahrvergnügen, so he tried to pep it up with a new set of spark plugs. Now the car is running worse. Did Paul need more than just plugs or did his mechanic assign the job to the wrong guy? Elsewhere, Joan and her friend are arguing over whether slower highway driving leads to longer engine life; Linda is concerned that Tom and Ray’s “potato in the tailpipe” stalling technique could kill a dog that happened to lock the car doors; and did Helen’s truck really lose 100 miles per tankful of gas, or was she suffering from Move Euphoria? All this and more, this week on The Best of Car Talk.

Show Open Topic

Cosmoline exists!

This Week's Puzzler

The Endless Mile: John buys a new car 21 miles away and has a plan to pick it up: He drives his old car 21 miles north, parks it, gets the new car and drives that one mile south. He then locks it up, walks back north one mile to the dealer, picks up his old car. Repeat!

Last Week's Puzzler

Jumping Batteries Batman: A truck is stuck in a narrow alley with a dead battery. Another truck arrives but cannot reach the battery of the first truck with jumper cables. How do the drivers restart the first engine within just a few minutes?


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